Josh Geary is part of a two-pronged down-under attack alongside Australian Dimi Papadatos sitting just one shot back heading into the final day of the Kaskáda Golf Challenge in the Czech Republic, in an effort to grab an elusive spot in The Open.
After shooting three sub-par rounds across the weekend, Geary is now in joint second place with Papadatos on 11-under, one shot behind a group of players including Marcel Schneider from Germany and Scot, Neil Bradley.
Geary’s third round included an eagle, five birdies and two bogeys in a 5-under 66 round bettered only by a handful of players including Papadatos who shot a 6-under 65 for the round.
The Challenge Tour tournament is taking place at the Kaskáda Golf Resort near a town called Brno in the southeast of the Czech Republic, about two hours drive from the capital Prague.
Normally playing on the European Tour, Geary has this week decided to stay on the continent of Europe following the BMW Open last week in Germany and try for The Open place that is on offer for the player that wins the Kaskáda Golf Challenge rather than head to Ireland for the Irish Open where fellow Kiwi Ryan Fox headed and missed the cut.
Due to existing international travel measures and the requirement to mitigate the risk of Covid-19 transmission with golfers withdrawing from Final Qualifying of The Open will now be able to earn places in golf’s original championship through events on the European Tour and European Challenge Tour, with the three leading non-exempt golfers qualifying at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open and the leading non-exempt golfer qualifying at the Kaskada Golf Challenge and next week’s Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge.
If Geary grabs the spot in The Open he will join fellow Kiwis Fox, Danny Lee and Daniel Hillier who have already gained exemptions into the field.
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Geary will tee off at 11.39pm NZT on Sunday night but with no live coverage on Sky Sport. A highlights package will be shown at 12.30pm on Monday.
